Sinn Féin spokesperson on Education has again called on the Minister to end the failure to deliver school places for children, some of whom are now being forced to receive their education at home via Home School Grants.

Deputy Clarke was commenting after new figures released by the Department of Education showed 44 pupils without school places are being taught at home.

Teachta Clarke said:

“It is becoming increasingly clear, based on today’s report, that the system currently in place is completely inadequate and ineffective, and children are missing out on a proper educational experience as a result.

“These children who are being forced to learn from home are missing out on crucial in-person schooling due to lack of forward planning by the government. This type of learning can lead to significant gaps in education, social skills and emotional wellbeing. It is not fair on any child, and it is not fair on their parents.

“I have raised these issues repeatedly with the Minister. Yet day by day, the situation continues to worsen.

“Immediate effective measures need to be put in place to increase enrolment capacity in primary, post-primary and special schools.

“With over half of post primary schools oversubscribed, the email recently circulated to parents of children in 6th class rings hollow. Parents have no other choice but to apply to multiple schools every year because they simply have no confidence or faith in the current system that their child will be offered their first choice or nearest school. This places a huge amount of unnecessary stress on families.

“The cause of the shortages in school places is a direct result of the government’s inability to plan properly and to deliver the much-needed changes in our education system. This same inability is contributing to the teacher supply crisis.

“With up to 1,000 teaching vacancies currently across the state, the qualified tutors that are being employed via the Home School Grant could be used more effectively elsewhere in the education sector. Government’s failure to nip the core issues in the bud from the get-go is having a rippling effect across the entire sector, exasperating crisis after crisis.”